It's bad enough,

that the whole country has to support the (R) farm states, to keep them 'in the fold' by subsidizing ethanol when things are good, BUT, when we're in the middle of a cataclysmic drought, it borders on insane and maybe even criminal. Corn based ethanol takes more (petroleum based) energy to create, than it produces. Everyone's entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts, and this is beyond dispute, when you factor in ALL it takes to get the ethanol to the pump. When you throw in the price of irrigation and precious water that's redirected, it's not even close. AND, it's proven every time I drive home to Nebr, that when I fill up with 10% ethanol, I immediately get approx 10% less MPG. We'd be better off just paying a 10% surcharge on gasoline and sending it to Repub farm states to buy votes. It'd be cheaper. See anything wrong here? On top of that, corn is about triple it's historic price and the costs of beef, pork, chicken, and all direct corn products are way up, with no end in sight. Approx 3 times as much corn is used for ethanol than is used for human food. Good job Pubs. But the Dems are also afraid to do the obvious and piss off the (subsidized) farm vote. Check out the whole story in this concise, factual article, Corn For Food Not Fuel   http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/31/opinion/corn-for-food-not-fuel.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120731
There's a lot of insanity and stupidity in politics, but this is some of the worst, cuz it's just common sense.